I finished watching the season.... it was better than average. A lot better than TFPrime and most of the Unicron trilogy (to me).
One thing I don't like is how there is no unified Decepticon force, and as such, no real threat. (not a crushing threat like Beast Machines or TFPrime which has the Autobots/Maximals hiding most of the time)
I also don't find it very realistic that very few own guns (even the Autobots who are supposed to be the police force), and the guns that do show up don't do any damage on others (but can blow a massive hole through a thick bank safe).
It might look visually more interesting to have swords or fists, and pad out the episode more, but these are technologically advanced robots that can build spacebridges but not a gun.
I was disappointed to see Windblade show up just because the comic writer of Windblade is a writer on the show.... and look exactly like her IDW version, even though everyone else is a new version of their namesakes. The flashback version of her should have been what she looks like as her regular version. It's a year too late to sell the Generations toy, so it was an unnecessary inclusion in that form. Just like all the other characters in the cartoon, Windblade should have received a new visual form that could have been similar to a previous version, but not exact. Otherwise it causes confusion over possibly being a shared universe to the IDW comic universe.
Drift is another writer creation that is now looking to be a long-term character in Transformers... and despite being part of the main cast for the second half of the season, he didn't get included in the opening credits. The Autobot team is now twice as big as the start of the season, so hopefully new credits next year includes all the new members. (I would have liked to see Jazz return again as well, after a single episode at the start of the season.)
There were a couple of "laugh out aloud" moments in, but I think there could have been a little more humour. The Fixit glitches were more annoying than amusing, while Bumblebee's attempts at finding a motivating warcry got old fast. I think he should have found one by halfway in the season and just stuck with it.
Although, in one of the last two episodes he says "Let's roll to the rescue... no wait, that's already being used by someone" - which was funny because I watch Rescue Bots a lot to know what he was referring to.
Megatronus was interesting, but short-lived (unless like Beast Wars Inferno, a disintegration isn't real if it is done in the final episode of a season).
I was surprised that Frank Welker wasn't voicing him. The voice though sounded like the original Zordon from MMPR (to me).
The "Clash of the Transformers" ToysRUs store exclusive toyline concept featured in the final episode... well, aside from the inclusion of Megatronus (which is yet to show up as a regular toy in other stores). Three of the Autobots took on an "Allspark blue" deco, which I was surprised to see, but I guess was part of the agreement with ToysRUs to take on the exclusive toys... they coloured Strongarm instead of Optimus (the Clash Autobots were Optimus, Bumblebee & Sideswipe).
Speaking of selling specific toys, the upgrade for Optimus was definitely drawn to look like the Mega 3-step Optimus. They couldn't have been any more obvious if they had a flashing sign over his head when he first appeared saying, "buy the Mega 3-step Optimus toy".
Right at the end of the series we finally get something that could link this series to TFPrime - Unicron's essence being in the core of the Earth... but with multiple universes existing over the last 30 years, there could easily be another universe with Unicron as the core of Earth, it is not exclusive to this universe as evidence that this series is following on from TFPrime.
Actually, if I wanted to waste some time, I think it would be easy to prove that this series is more likely to be separate to TFPrime than actually a part of it, as there is more evidence against it than supporting it.
Like, when they were visiting the ghost town in episode 24, it was clearly Nevada, but Bumblebee didn't make any mention of them once having an old base nearby. Considering it was for most of his life on Earth, that would be a pretty significant thing to mention... and maybe get new viewers of this show to go find out what it was and then watch TFPrime as a result.
And finally, I am really tired of the "hiding from humans" concept, because it is spoiling the overall story potential. It makes the episodes less realistic when there are no humans anywhere, and the plot devices they come up with for some occasions are just stupid.
The name "robots in disguise" refers to their ability to transform into something else, which they do for mobility or for battle, not to hide from humans. The Decepticons don't have a need to stay hidden, so when there are hundreds or thousands of them running around, you can't tell me that not a single human sees them.
The concept of them being hidden from human society didn't last long in the movie universe (during TF2) because it wasn't practical for the story to maintain that idea... and in all seriousness, after three years of TFPrime having global battles and Decepticon warships flying around, humans would know about it. With the way our western media, social media and paparazzi works at finding all sorts of secrets we don't even need to know about, something as massive as an alien invasion of thousands of bots (in TFPrime) or hundreds (in RID), is going to be seen and shared.
Get it out in the open, and it will make the episodes more interesting as there won't be deserted cities or cringe-worthy reasons for no humans being around... and might even make them more of a threat element, as the Autobots will need to put in more effort saving them when Decepticons attack.
I know I know... it's only a cartoon. But really, kids aren't stupid - they should be wondering the same thing.
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